This invention relates generally to traffic content in a distributed communications system and, in particular to a method of optimizing traffic content in a distributed communications system.
Vehicle drivers seek to find the optimum routes from their origin point to their destination point so they can minimize travel time and fuel consumption. Current methods for finding optimum routes are based on static digital road map databases and limited real-time traffic monitoring equipment. Typically, the road map data computes optimal routes based on estimated travel times from the road classification and/or speed limit data. This method has the disadvantage in that the data may not reflect the actual travel times because of stop signs, normal traffic patterns, weather and road conditions, accidents, construction, and the like. Real-time traffic monitoring equipment is currently available only on some major freeways and arteries. This leaves potential routes out of reach of real-time traffic monitoring and hence unavailable for incorporation into a route optimization scheme.
Optimum routes are generally computed based on weighting strategies for road segments and intersections. The real-time traffic information is treated as a dynamic weight for the individual road segments affected and routes can be computed taking the traffic into consideration where available. However, these methods are based on static data and limited real-time information. This has the disadvantage of improper weighting of road segments due to a lack of real-time traffic data for any given time of the day or week, which in turn creates sub-optimal routing schemes.
Accordingly, there is a significant need for methods of route optimization and traffic information acquisition that overcome the deficiencies of the prior art outlined above.